She added that 24 females would be selected to undergo the training after due registration.

“I am throwing this opportunity open to every young female across the 24 kingdom in Urhobo Land for fair participation.

“At the end, one person each will be selected, making it 24 beneficiaries across Urhobo.”

She added that the empowerment programme was for females between the ages of 18 and 35 years.

Okpakpa, however, urged interested participants not to see the empowerment programme as alternative to education.

She emphasised that “interested women can make this a profession, but they will need education to do it well, hence they should not ditch education because it is the bedrock of every venture.”

NAN reports that Queen Okpakpa is the 2015/2016 ‘Face of Urhobo’ beauty queen,
an annual Urhobo traditional beauty pageant organised by ‘Urhobowood’,
an organisation that promotes Urhobo culture, music and movies.